Trustees ratify appointments, approve resolution

September 27, 2013

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (Sept. 27) ratified appointments of three named professors and approved a resolution of appreciation for former board chairman Keith Krach.

Trustees approved Arvind Raman as the Robert V. Adams Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Fabio H. Ribeiro as the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering, and W. Jason Weiss as the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering.

Raman has been a professor of mechanical engineering since 2009. He came to Purdue in 2000 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and became an associate professor in 2005.

His research interests include nonlinear dynamics and fluid-structure interaction of rotating or axially transported structures, microsystem design informed by dynamics of low-dimensional models, new microsystems for high-throughput mechanical imaging of live cells and tissue, and probing complex material interfaces with advanced dynamic atomic force microscopy techniques.

He was named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2012, received the organization's Gustus Larson Memorial Award, won a National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award and also has been a University Faculty Scholar.

The Robert V. Adams Professorship in Mechanical Engineering was established in 2000 through an endowment by donors Robert V. Adams and Barbara Abercrombie. Adams is a Purdue alumnus.

Raman earned his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India, his master's degree from Purdue and a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley.

Ribeiro is a professor of chemical engineering and has been at Purdue since 2003, when he was an associate professor. Before coming to Purdue, he was an assistant and associate professor of chemical engineering from 1996-2003 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

His areas of research are in kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic processes, including high-surface area catalysts, industrial applications of catalysts and surface science techniques.

He received the Henry J. Albert Award from the International Precious Metals Institute in 2012, a CAREER award from the NSF in 1997 and was a University Faculty Scholar.

Ribeiro earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Instituto Militar de Engenharia in Brazil, and received a second master's degree and his doctorate from Stanford University.

The R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering was established through a trust by former Purdue professor Randolph Norris Shreve and his wife, Eleanor.

Weiss is a professor in the School of Civil Engineering and is director of the Pankow Materials Laboratories. He was associate head of the school from 2007-09 and was assistant head for research from 2005-07. He came to Purdue as an assistant professor in 1999.

His group is actively involved in research on cement and concrete materials, specifically focused on early age property development, cracking, transport in concrete, and concrete durability and service life performance.

A fellow of the American Concrete Institute, he received an NSF Early CAREER Award in 2002 and was a University Faculty Scholar in 2008. He also was elected a fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy in 2012.

He received his bachelor's degree from Penn State University and his master's degree and doctorate from Northwestern University.

The Jack and Kay Hockema Professorship in Civil Engineering was established in 2006 by donations from Jack A. and Kay Hockema through the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund. Jack Hockema is a Purdue alumnus.

Trustees approved a resolution for Keith Krach, who retired from the Board of Trustees in July after serving for six years, including four as chairman. During Krach's tenure, Purdue saw record levels of research funding, higher retention rates and philanthropic giving of more than $1 billion. Krach served as chairman during the 2012 Purdue presidential search, as well as the transitions from President France A. Córdova to interim President Timothy Sands to President Mitch Daniels. Krach, who earned a bachelor's degree from Purdue in 1979, serves as the chairman and CEO of a San Francisco-based company, DocuSign. He also serves as chairman of the board at Angie's List.

The board also approved the revocation of an undergraduate bachelor of science degree previously awarded to a former Purdue student who has been found responsible for various violations of university regulations, including academic dishonesty. The name of the student was withheld in accordance with federal regulations governing student privacy.